Legendary
by silver-eyed
Summary: The death of his parents leave him alone and unable to be a ninja. Eight years later Naruto has an encounter with a raven haired boy that will take him on a legendary adventure to unite his world and fight against evil. AU old China mixed with ninja, yaoi
1. Chapter 1

Legendary

Chapter 1

Warnings: rated T, shounen-ai, eventual yaoi

I don't own Naruto, never have, never will, which is the sad part if you ask me.

Prologue

It is said in legend that there was a sword of great power. It was so great that the founding figurehead of the shinobi world and his wife melded it with gold and split the sword into two. Inside the two swords, To Lung and Yee Tin, were placed a set of powerful jutsus known as the Lunar Scroll along with military tactics and other knowledge they had gained.

For the longest times the different villages of shinobi fought constantly to gain the power of these two swords to try and find the secrets of the Lunar Scroll. Two main groups formed as a result of these battles: Konoha whom had backing from Persia and the Five Villages which consisted of Sand, Rock, Cloud, Mist, and Grass.

For generations these two groups fought bitterly against each other but little did they know that one unsanctioned marriage between two individuals would spark a revolution of their world.

Welcome to the story of a Ninjutsu master who rose up against the odds, welcome to the adventure of Naruto Uzumaki!

Chapter 1

"Naruto!" called out a red haired woman who reached out to take the hand of an over eager eight-year old who was trying to rush from one stand to the next.

There was a festival in town today to celebrate the honorable master of their village, Jiraiya, who had reached his one hundredth birthday. Naruto was excited that his mom had decided to let him out of the villa to come check out the festival. He wanted some crab sweets so bad! And there were so many stands for them too that he couldn't decide which one he wanted to go to.

Not to mention the ramen! His mouth was watering and just as he was about to dart to a particular stand that had bright orange letters his mom managed to snag his hand.

"Naruto, what did I tell you about running away from me?" his mother scolded him lightly. The disheartened boy lowered his head in shame and apologized sullenly for a second before his head shot up and a smile stretched his face. She wondered how he and her husband were able to smile that big without hurting themselves. No longer shamefaced Naruto tugged on his mom's hand and started talking to her about all the things he wanted to try.

"I want a mask too Mommy! And some crab sweets and ramen! Oh there's so much ramen here that I want to try all of them! And can I get some for Dad as well? It's too bad he can't be here," the boy exclaimed, pausing to catch his breath before he started up again. Kushina laughed and patted his mop of spiky blond hair.

"Of course we'll get him something. Come on now, we have to hurry. Your dad doesn't want us out here too long," she ushered him to the stand that he had been about to dart to before she had grabbed him.

She bought him a stick of sweet crab in sugar balls and walked back towards the villa. Before they got there Minato popped out in front of them with a worried look on his face.

"There you guys are. You guys have been out for too long," he chided softly. It wasn't safe out on the streets especially since there were people after him and his wife because of the knowledge that they had.

It's been almost three months now that his best friend Hatake Sakumo and his family had gone into hiding with the To Lung sword. It had been a vicious battle and a hard victory for the possession of the one half of the legendary sword. With only one sword, Sakumo, now blind from the attack of Orochimaru, was unable to garner any information regarding the Lunar Scroll.

He had gone into hiding and only Minato and Kushina knew where he had gone to. Many people had sought out the couple threatening to kill them if they didn't tell where Sakumo had gone to. For the past few months the family had been in hiding to prevent any confrontations where little Naruto could get hurt. It was only Jiraiya's birthday that they had decided to come out for a little bit.

"It's only for a little bit. And no one should know that we are here, honey," Kushina reasoned quietly. Minato picked up his son and placed him on a cart where he continued to eat his candy happily.

"Even still, we can't be too careful," Minato responded with a worried frown. Naruto looked between his parents curiously before he spoke up, "Are there still people after uncle Sakumo, daddy?"

Minato glanced at his son and put a quick finger to his lips, "Shssh, Naruto. Remember what I told you about saying his name out loud?" This time the little blond boy didn't lower his head at being reprimanded; instead he held his head up high and answered back, "Yes, daddy. I remember that I'm not supposed to say anything about him and even if anybody pushes me to, I still won't say anything because it wouldn't be righteous."

"That's right. Good boy, Naruto," Minato smiled at his boy with pride in his eyes. He was gonna be a fine ninja once he grew up. Just as Kushina was about to say something a terrible cry pierced the air and the surrounding civilians screamed and scattered under the painful sound.

Naruto covered his ears and cried out in pain. Kushina and Minato looked around, battle stances defensive as they tried to locate the source of the sound.

"Mommy! What is it?!" wailed a distraught Naruto. Kushina laid a calming hand on his shoulder and replied, "It's called Jinx's Cry. It's painful and disorienting. Resist it my forming your chakra around you."

"Namikaze Minato!"

The shout came from above as two figures jumped down onto the street. They wore black cloaks with swirling red clouds.

"Akatsuki!" Minato spat out. There wasn't any more time to say anything else as one figure dashed forward and engaged Minato in battle. As soon as they started exchanging blows the second one attacked Kushina, knocking her away long enough to grab a hold of Naruto and take his hostage.

"Let my son go now!" he spoke in a low dangerous tone. The one who had attacked Minato snickered. Naruto squirmed and struggled, screaming for his parents. They stood back, unwilling to do anything that would harm their boy.

"Tell us where Hatake Sakumo is and he's all yours," the snickering man stated their terms. Minato advanced a step but Kushina held out her hand to stop him.

"Please, he's just a boy. Let him go and you will have the appreciation of the Mist Village and Konoha," Kushina pleaded. The man laughed. He was a strange one indeed with his blond hair and cryptic stitches all over his neck; like his head had been stitched on.

"As if, don't threaten us with Konoha and Mist. Even if that old man Jiraiya was here we wouldn't be scared," he said, his stance full of cock and superiority.

"You aren't are you?" In front of Minato and Kushina in a swirl of leaves appeared an old man with long white shaggy hair in a red yukata and white pants. He had red markings on his face but overall, he certainly didn't look like a revered ninjutsu master.

"Haha, the great Sannin is just an old fat man. Please, give me a break." The blond with the stitches laughed while his partner stayed mute with the now silent Naruto still in his hold.

"My reputation precedes me and is often exaggerated," Jiraiya chuckled lightly, "Well, what is the problem here?"

"Tell us where Hatake Sakumo is and they get their kid back," the blond repeated. Jiraiya turned to Minato casually, "Well, Minato, tell them where he is and you can have Naruto back."

Minato glared at his master, "I can't do that. I won't betray my friend." Jiraiya sighed before he turned back to the two cloak wearers.

"Well he can't betray his friend because that won't be heroic so why don't you just let the boy go, eh?" He offered them a cheesy grin.

"Cut the bullshit old man!" The blond stepped forward and attacked. Jiraiya, despite his original laughing attitude retaliated harshly. He stepped forward to meet the blow only to side step the man and deliver a blow to the man's chest. He quickly followed with several punches and a kick that sent him stumbling back.

Jiraiya grabbed his face with his hand and swung him around to face the other man. His casual attitude was gone and in its place was an angry man who darn well lived up to his name.

"If you hit that boy once I'll hit him a hundred times!" he yelled with his other hand raised threateningly over the blonde's head. Caught in a stand still, the other man nodded and finally spoke, "I suggest an equal trade then."

"Fine then, no funny stuff," the white haired man agreed and he started counting. On three he kicked the blond toward his partner and Naruto was thrown towards himself. Mid-air the blond turned and performed several quick hand signs and struck the helpless boy.

His parents saw but were too slow to do anything besides cry out and rush to catch him. The one who had been holding Naruto performed several hand signs as well and Jiraiya called out, "Look out!" as he jumped up to avoid the blast of energy. Minato and Kushina who was now holding Naruto jumped out of the way as well. When the blast cleared they turned to find the two men gone.

"Damn them!"

"It's Jinx's Palm jutsu! What should we do?" Kushina cried in alarm at seeing the dark bruise of a hand print on her son's back start forming an intricate seal of red lines.

"Take him to the villa, I'll go get an antidote from Rock Village," and with that the white haired man teleported away in a swirl of leaves. Minato helped Kushina with Naruto and they hurried over to the villa.

!!

In a five point star seal around the blond boy the five chosen elders of Mist Village sat under harsh concentration as they tried to annul the affects of the Jinx's Palm jutsu. Various complex ink markings snaked around the five elders as the little boy moaned in pain. His mouth opened and he shrieked. One man's face hardened as he shook his head.

"We can't continue! He'll die if we keep this up!" With a nod, the others cancelled the jutsu simultaneously. The seal immediately faded and Naruto started moaning weakly. The growing seal mark on his side pulsed and grew a little more. Kushina rushed into the room and picked up her baby and covered him in a blanket. She started whispering sweet soothing words to calm him down.

Minato stood off to the side with a worried frown on his face as he listened to the elders' advice on what to do about Naruto.

"It's too dangerous to do anything else until Master Jiraiya comes back with an antidote," the one who had stopped the process spoke quietly. Minato nodded but hated the decision that he couldn't do anything to help his son.

Just then an apprentice of the elders came rushing in and fell onto his knees in respect before quickly relaying his news, "The four village leaders and their ninja are outside. They want Minato-sama and his wife to tell them where Hatake Sakumo is hiding!"

"What the hell? Those bastards!" cried an elder in outrage. Minato and the others rushed out to the courtyard of the villa to meet the kages. Kushina set the sleeping Naruto down on a pallet and rushed out with her husband.

They spilled out of the main doors to see the site that stood before them. Completely filling the large courtyard were indeed the four kages and behind them stood their shinobi all standing ready to obey any orders. The air was tense as the two sides faced off. Minato and the elders came out of the doors last, Kushina by his side.

"There he is. Have you no shame? Standing beside that whore like an equal," the Lightening Kage spat out. Minato hid his anger at the woman. It wouldn't do any good to react to their barbs.

"Let me teach you a lesson!" the woman pressed on and she pulled out the Yee Tin sword. In the blink of an eye she attacked Kushina, knocking Minato out of the way with the lash of the sword. Once separated, she punched her in the stomach and slapped her. Two more slaps and backhands accompanied her punch as she spat out, "Damn whore!" with every slap.

Before Minato could jump in and defend his wife the Lightening Kage was hit and pushed back away from Kushina. He returned her slaps with shouts of "Damn nun!"

Sputtering in outrage she attempted to pull out her sword but Jiraiya stepped toward her and pulled the sword out of her hands and with a bump of his hips sent her stumbling back a few steps. She was furious as her hands clenched in anger and humiliation.

"You are too hot-headed. Send a proper student to come back for your sword when you have calmed down. I'll be keeping it for now," he spoke as he sent the sword flying behind him and into the open doors of the main building where it lodged itself into the wall behind the Buddha.

The Rock Kage stepped forward in his robed glory and stomped his staff down on the ground for attention to address the steaming blond; he ignored the temper tantrum of the Lightening Kage. She had always been a jealous woman and it was known that she wanted to have Minato for herself. He got straight to the point.

"You know why we are here, Namikaze-san. Tell us where Hatake is hiding and we will leave peacefully," the man offered. The blond stood there watching the people before him. It was his master's birthday yet they dared to come here and threaten to start something like this. His anger was now hidden but most of it was at the fact that there wasn't much he could do.

There was no way he would betray Sakumo but he couldn't be the cause of any problems between Mist and the other villages as well. His mind thought furiously as to what he could do.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Jiraiya shouted as he appeared beside his blond student. When he had gone to Rock village the Kage hadn't been there. He had been told that they had come here instead. He was angry and it wouldn't help his blood pressure but damn those greedy bastards! He stepped forward to address the Rock Kage, "What do you think you're doing Tsuchi?"

"You may be a legendary shinobi but I doubt you'd be able to fight off all of us at the same time, Jiraiya-sama," the man replied calmly even as his eyes narrowed, telling the old man that he would order his ninja to attack.

"Why you-" he was cut off by Minato as he stepped forward and put a hand up for silence. His blue eyes shone coldly as his gaze passed over the kages and the people standing behind them. Such actions could only come from greed for power. It disgusted him and he hated it.

"You are all here for one thing," he spoke clearly as his eyes focused on the Rock Kage, "You want to know where Hatake Sakumo is hiding so you can get the To Lung sword and the secrets that it holds.

"Well, I'll give you what you want," he finished quietly. For a tense minute he just stared at everyone. He couldn't help but turn his head once behind him to catch the eyes of his precious wife. Her eyes were pained but determination was there. It was all he needed. Little did they know that little Naruto had woken up to the shouting and had crept to the main doors and was watching the whole thing. Minato turned back to the kages.

He started laughing; a loud insane laughter that erupted from deep within. It was so different from the laughter that everyone associated with the always jovial man.

Everybody started then tensed as they wondered what he was going to do. His laughter died and formed a battle cry as he quickly formed a set of seals faster than anyone was prepared for. The moment he finished his chest exploded outward and blood spewed everywhere; onto the faces of the kages and the ones standing by them.

His cry died off and he stood still for a moment before his body started to fall backward. Jiraiya's cry was the next thing to be heard as he rushed forward to grab his falling student.

"Daddy!" Naruto rushed from the door and ran to his father's side. Kushina stood where she was with a strange expression on her face. Naruto knelt by his father's side and shook him, crying and telling him to get up.

"You fool, why'd you go and do something like that for, idiot?" Jiraiya asked pointlessly as he held his dead student who had practically been a son to him. Naruto, unable to get a response from his dad, ran to cling to his mom and started sobbing even harder.

"We feel your pain, Uzumaki-san. However, you are the only one left who knows where Hatake is," the Rock Kage continued to push. She raised her eyes to meet his and she nodded.

"I will tell you, Tsuchi-sama. But I will tell only you," she spoke quietly. The Mist elders gasped and looked on with shock. Jiraiya frowned, wondering what she was planning. There was no way she could expect to kill him.

"Come here and I will tell you," she took a step away from the now silent Naruto toward the staff wielding man. The man walked forward almost eagerly to receive the information. Kushina walked up to him and said, "I will only say this once so listen carefully." She raised herself up on tip-toes and whispered in the man's ear.

She pulled back and said, "That's where he is," and she walked back to where Naruto was standing and she knelt down to his level.

"Wait, I didn't hear! Uzumaki-san, could you-" the Kage was cut off as the others swarmed him asking him where Hatake was. He protested, saying that she hadn't told him anything. They accused him of just wanting to keep the sword for himself. There was a brief shoving match as Rock nin moved forward to protect their Kage as the other kages and their ninja pushed back to get the information.

Naruto looked at his mother in confusion. She smiled at him.

"Mommy," he hiccupped out, "Daddy…Daddy's gone."

"Listen to me, Naruto. Mommy tricked them; look at the power of my lie. Don't trust a woman. The more beautiful, the more cunning and deceitful she is.

"Take a good look at these people. They were the ones who pushed your father to his death. Remember each one of their faces."

"They were the ones that killed Daddy?" he asked uncertainly.

"Yes, you must avenge your father," she whispered to him before she pulled him in for a hug. Those were the last words she spoke to him. From inside her shirt she pulled out a kunai and without hesitation she stabbed herself.

Naruto felt something warm on his chest. He lifted a hand to his chest and found that it was wet. He brought it up to his face and saw red.

He let go of his mother in shock and confusion. Her body fell backward with a kunai buried inside her, lifeless. He tore his eyes away from the red on his hands to see his mother falling. The moment her body fell to the ground the situation snapped into place in his mind.

"Mommy!" he cried before his breath hitched and he fell over in a faint as well.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted. Damn this day!

"Come on, we need to get him inside!" he snapped out orders and Mist nin moved forward to pick the bodies. An elder picked up the little blond and they retreated back into the main building of the villa.

"Leave at once!" Jiraiya growled at the kages and at a lost, they did with the decency to keep silent and just left.

A/N So what do you guys think? There's not much character development cuz I just wanna get the setup done for the rest of the story and establish some characters. There's a time skip coming up ahead of eight years. Naruto is eight here and he'll be sixteen next chapter. Sasuke shows up next chapter! If there's something that doesn't make sense, just let me know cuz half the time I don't know if I explained it or if I just thought I did inside my head. Well, thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: The journey starts

Legendary

Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto. I'm not making any money (if I was, you think I'd be struggling to pay summer tuition right now?!)

He walked up the mountain pathway that started from behind the villa that led up to a steep cliff overlooking the other mountains. At the cliff edge he pulled out a simple bamboo flute and began playing a song that master Jiraiya had taught him many years ago.

He continued playing for a while, completely lost in thought about his parents and his life now. Ever since he had been struck by Jinx's Palm jutsu, he had been sickly and weak. The jutsu constrained and drained his chakra and stole his warmth at night.

If it hadn't been for Jiraiya constantly passing chakra to him every day he would have been dead now. As it is now, he was nothing more than a weak person. He wasn't able to mold chakra in any way; he couldn't perform jutsus, he couldn't even participate in the taijutsu training that the other students and apprentices did.

It really sucked. What was worse though was the teasing and bullying. Jiraiya and the elders adored him but that made him hated by the others his age. They would push him around and taunt him; flaunting their abilities in front of him and insulting him and how weak he was. They accused that if he weren't such a suck-up Jiraiya wouldn't give a shit about him. He was useless.

He stopped playing and lowered the flute from his mouth. He started taking deep breaths to keep his calm. It never helped when he got mad and tried to do something back at them. The most he could was smile and laugh when Jiraiya asked him if anything was wrong. The old man really took care of him so there was no way he was gonna trouble him with these petty problems.

He was rather lost in thought until he heard his name being called.

"Naruto!" the voice belonged to none other than his master and Godfather, Jiraiya. His call echoed throughout the mountains and up to the cliff that he was standing on. Voice sorcery was a lost art that very few knew how to do anymore and Jiraiya refused to teach it to him or anybody else.

"Naruto!" the cry came again and this time he answered back.

"I'm up here!"

The white haired man appeared shortly after in a swirl of leaves in front of him. They smiled at each other and shared a brief hug.

"What are you doing up here so early in the morning?" the old man asked. Naruto shrugged and just smiled sheepishly.

"I couldn't sleep," he answered lamely. That was the truth; he was cold and he had been having that same nightmare again of his parents dying. It had been eight years since he had seen his parents die in front of him, but he was still no closer to avenging them.

His brilliant blue eyes faded to a downcast color and Jiraiya frowned. He took a step toward the edge of the cliff and started talking, hoping to get the boy's mind off the issues that he knew were bothering him even if he never said anything.

"The first time I came here was to fight someone. There was cook from Rock village that had stumbled upon a scroll that was thought to have been lost three hundred years ago. It was the Solar Scroll; the supplementary half that would complete the Lunar Scroll. Like the Lunar Scroll, it is a complete kind of jutsu; taijutsu, ninjutsu all combined together as a stance.

"I had defeated the cook here at this cliff."

_"I can't believe it! I have mastered the Solar Stance and I can't even defeat you?!" the angry bald man screamed his fury and frustration as he held his bleeding wound. Jiraiya didn't sympathize at all._

_"What was the point in spending all those years training and practicing for then?" He decided to humor the slightly crazy man and answered, "It's not the scroll that's at fault but the wielder of the stance." The man gave him a bewildered look before he laughed out loud._

_"The wielder? So it was me who's at fault?" He continued to laugh._

_"I hate you Jiraiya. The only reason I bothered at all was so I could defeat you! I can't even do that!" he shouted, "See you in hell!" With that he turned and jumped off the cliff._

"If only he hadn't done that; by learning the Solar Stance you could regain control of your chakra and finally become a shinobi. As it is though, I'll keep passing chakra to you until I can figure out a way to cure you."

Naruto nodded numbly, not really thinking about much. Even if the man was alive, it didn't seem possible. Sometimes he wondered why his mom had put such a burden on him. He shook his head mentally. What was he thinking? Of course it was his duty to avenge his father! To think otherwise was unacceptable. He would find a way to do it, even if he couldn't fight.

"Come, it's time for breakfast, you don't want to miss that do you?" the old man grinned and Naruto shook his head. He would never miss any meal!

!!

"Jiraiya-sama, it's been eight years, the Raikage has sent a student to take back the Yee Tin sword. They are waiting in the courtyard," the ninja spoke respectfully to his master as he bent on one knee to deliver the message.

The white haired man nodded, "Let them in." As the kunoichi filed in and lined up in two rows, one particular one with a white mask on walked in between the two rows of kunoichi. As she entered a silence fell over everyone in the room. Mist didn't recruit any female ninja but for Lightening there were only females. Naruto along with his older cousin openly stared at the kunoichi as she walked by.

As she approached proper distance from Jiraiya, she lowered her mask and curtsied before him.

"Greetings, Jiraiya-sama. My name is Yamanaka Ino. Our Raikage has sent me here to retrieve the Yee Tin sword," she spoke softly and demurely.

"I see, so how is her temper?" he asked her while he secretly eyed her downturned face.

"Her temper has improved; it was suggested that she undertake meditation and the ways of Buddha," was her almost sweet response. Jiraiya nodded before he motioned for the sword to be brought forward.

"Naruto," he summoned. The blond immediately perked up at the call of his name.

"Y-yes, Jiraiya-sama?" he answered. He only ever called the old man respectfully when they were in company like this. Otherwise he referred to him as the pervy old man.

"Please give the sword to Ino-san," he said. His cousin's face pinched slightly in annoyance at having been chosen over again.

"Uh, yeah," Naruto responded a little slowly as he made his way to the ninja who was holding the sword. He took it and turned back to Ino and bowed awkwardly before handing it to her. Her eyes gazed at him curiously. She spoke up as soon as she took the sword from him, "Pardon me but are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me," he returned her gaze but his was confused and slightly wary. She bowed briefly before explaining her question, "I've heard much about you. I'm sorry for your parents."

"That's okay."

"Yeah, we take good care of Naruto here!" his cousin came up behind him and draped his arm over the blonde's shoulder. Naruto carefully hid his distaste and didn't say anything.

"My name is Mizuki and I'm the elders' oldest son," he introduced himself as his brown eyes leered at her from a frame of grey hair. She looked at him like he was something nasty but she smiled tentatively anyway and nodded in greeting.

"How about this Ino-san, you may stay here for a few days to see the hospitality that Mist has to offer and Mizuki can demonstrate some of our sword techniques!" Jiraiya suggested. Ino's eyes' lit up at the prospect of staying and she quickly agreed.

Later in the afternoon while Mizuki led the other ninja in their daily drills and training, Ino walked around watching them. She happened to catch Naruto watching as well from behind a tree. The men were drilling in a smaller courtyard than the main one but it still had enough room for over a hundred men. Curious about this blond, not to mention she thought he was rather handsome, she approached him ready to talk.

"Hi there Naruto!" she called out and watched him jump in surprise at being caught watching, "Are you watching them? Why aren't you drilling as well?" she asked.

"I uh, umm," he stuttered out. How to tell her that he couldn't? Mizuki saw them and smirked. He darted towards them with his sword outstretched right toward Naruto's head. Naruto froze at seeing the look on his cousin's face; all he could do was stumble along with Ino's tugging as she tugged him backward, concern and confusion on her face at what was going on.

When they backed up against a tree Mizuki stopped and whipped his sword behind his back smirking all the while. Ino could only gape at the older boy's antic.

"Naruto here doesn't have any chakra. He can't use any so we take care of him. Don't worry Naruto, we got your back!" he smirked, his eyes smug. He turned his eyes to Ino and asked, "Do you want to join us?" She looked between the two uncertainly. Naruto was good looking but someone without chakra wasn't really an option for her.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she answered and he took her hand before leading her off to the clearing. Naruto was left by himself and only then did he let his anger show at being humiliated in front of her. He glared at Mizuki some more before he stomped off to his room.

Damn, he wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off that jerk's face! He also wanted to wipe his face into the dirt as well. But as he closed the door behind him and he looked at his bed, it didn't seem like a possibility anytime soon. He let out a frustrated sigh.

Elsewhere later that evening in the main building of the villa, the reception hall where the Yee Tin sword had so recently been returned, the five elders of the village sat in their positions with Mizuki kneeling before them.

"Mizuki, the others and I are going to accompany Master Jiraiya into the seclusion chamber for some training. He's going to try to create a jutsu to help Naruto out. We're going to leave the village in your hands for the duration of the session.

"We don't know how long it's going to take but one of us will come out once a week to check on things. We expect you to take care of things here and look after Naruto. No harm is to come to him," his father spoke solemnly. Mizuki inwardly cringed but outwardly he nodded and bowed deeply.

"I understand, father. I will not let you down. You won't have to worry about anything while I'm in charge," he replied with as he raised his head to meet his father's eyes.

"Good, we will be leaving now," and with that he was dismissed and the elders stood up and starting leaving the room to prepare.

Mizuki smirked. He'd take care of his cousin.

!!

Night had befallen the village and at the villa Naruto was just on his way back to his room to try and sleep when he heard voices chattering excitedly. He followed the noises and found several of the students gathered at the door of Ino's room. Immediately without thought of the consequences he rushed over and shouted at them.

Startled they dashed away as Naruto stopped by the door. Inside Ino had heard the shout and the commotion. She had just been about to disrobe for her bath. She placed her top robe around her shoulders and rushed to the door and opened it to find Naruto standing there nervously.

"Uh, they were peeping at you," he explained nervously. Her eyes widened in shock and she asked, "Really? Oh my!"

"Yeah, um, they're all gone now…so," he trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He'd never had much contact with the opposite sex aside from when his mother was alive. Even then it was his mom. He'd never stood next to a girl before in his life!

"Oh, still, I'm frightened. Won't you come in and keep me company?" she asked with a worried look on her face and when he didn't look convinced she added, "In case they come back?" Still he hesitated. With a pout she looked down and said, "That's okay, if you don't like me, you can go. I know you don't want to be around me."

She walked back in but didn't close the door, leaving him to stand there undecided. Naruto damned himself for not knowing what to do. Finally thinking that he might get the girl that his cousin liked even though he didn't really care much for her he walked in and closed the door behind him.

"I'll keep you company."

With that she turned around and gave him her most alluring smile as she looked at him from beneath her lashes. Ino walked over to him and brushed her hand down his arm causing him to pull back slightly in alarm.

"I knew you liked me," she whispered seductively as she sidled up close to his chest, barely brushing her breast against him. She let her outer robe fall off her shoulders and onto the ground as she leaned up and closed her eyes.

Naruto froze; he'd never kissed a girl before! His brain went dead as his eyes widened momentarily. Going on instinct he pursed his lips and leaned forward with closed eyes. His heart was pounding so loud he wondered how she didn't hear it. His pulse was jumping crazily.

Then there was a wet swipe on his face and he jerked back, eyes flying open to see Ino pulling away and swinging her robe back on as she moved to stand behind Mizuki. There was his cousin, laughing and holding a brush dipped in ink. There were those guys from before peeping through the door also standing behind Mizuki.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Naruto? You think you're a lady killer?" he laughed obnoxiously and the others followed suit at the blonde's expense. He stared at them, aghast that he had fallen for their prank. For a moment all he could think about was how stupid he'd been to even think of saving her. Then a memory from eight years ago surfaced. Faces all standing together, staring and laughing at his parents before his father killed himself. He started to get angry.

His mother's words about cunning and deceitful woman came back to him and then he looked at his cousin and something inside him just snapped. The elders weren't home and neither was Jiraiya. A little part of the dam holding back all his anger and frustration broke and he lifted his fist almost comically and tried to hit his cousin.

Mizuki easily dodged the clumsy fist and kick his younger cousin back. He crashed through the door, pushing it open and the blond stumbled out into the mini courtyard. The other students came out and surrounded him taunting him as they jabbed at him and punched and shoved him around.

Naruto scrambled around and when his hands found a stone he picked it up and bashed the closest head to him. He continued to wildly swing the stone as they pulled back a bit.

The grey haired boy came out; he was briefly stopped by Ino's worried look. He brushed it off, "Don't worry, my father's gone. I'm in charge." He darted toward Naruto and kicked him back several steps. Another kick and Naruto was pushed back up against a tree dropping the stone.

Mizuki placed a foot against Naruto's throat holding him tightly up to the tree. The blond struggled furiously but couldn't dislodge the older boy's foot.

"You're a jinx to this village. You're useless, if it weren't for Master Jiraiya you would have died long ago like you should have. If Master gave me even half of what he's given to you I'd be a jutsu master by now! You don't deserve to live; it's you who pushed your father to death.

"Your mother is a whore, she deserved to die!" He pointed two fingers at Naruto; the offending fingers digging into his forehead with every other word. Anger erupted from within Naruto. No one talked about his mom like that!

"You can insult me all you want but never talk about my mother that way!" He grabbed the two fingers and bit down hard. Mizuki screamed and tried to tug his fingers out of the deathly vise of death.

"Help me! Get him away from me!" he screamed out as the others tried to pull Naruto's mouth away from his fingers. One student finally hit Naruto on the head and the blond finally let go. Out of his mouth came two bloody fingers. Mizuki pulled his hand close and roared out, "Hold him still! I'm gonna cut off his fucking hand!"

Naruto was being held by two of the ninjas and he couldn't move but that didn't stop him from struggling furiously. No way in hell was he going down without a fight!

"So Mist isn't honorable at all," insultingly drawled a voice from above. Ino and Mizuki looked up and sitting on the top of the wall separating the courtyard from another part of the villa was a masked person.

"Who are you, friend?" Ino asked. The person looked like they almost snorted.

"I am not a friend of yours," he replied before adding with a disinterested turn of his head, "Dress up, bitch." Ino almost gasped. While the events had been going on she hadn't realized her robe had slipped off her shoulders. Hastily she adjusted it and tied it closed but spoke out snidely in true female form, "If you have the guts, come down here."

The masked person grunted and jumped off the wall and right into combat with the waiting Mist ninja. Mizuki and Ino joined in as well but it was obvious that they weren't really a match for man. With their drawn swords against his weird rope thing that he held in his hands, he easily deflected their blades and kicked them and swung at them with his rope.

The man was dressed in navy blue slacks with a matching tunic. The rope in his hands was black along with the black cloth he had tied over his face that acted as a mask. After a brief skirmish he ended up standing next to a stunned Naruto.

"The Mist sword technique isn't anything special. Konoha stances are much more powerful," he spoke snidely. Mizuki glared at him and he motioned to Ino who was standing beside him.

"Ino, go get your sword Yee Tin and show this piece of trash what you can do!"

"Yeah," she answered and dashed back inside her room to grab the sword.

"So, Yee Tin really is here in Mist," the man drawled out again in a bored monotone voice. He glanced at Naruto briefly as if he was surprised that the idiot was still standing there after being attacked.

"Aren't you leaving? Don't let these dogs of Mist kill you."

"I won't have you insulting Mist!" Naruto couldn't help the words out of his mouth. No one insulted anything that related to his Godfather; not even the person who was saving him. The masked man raised a brow, "Are you insane?" Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the Mist ninja prepare for an offensive attack so he turned his attention back to them, muttering that he'd have a chat with the crazy blond after the fight.

The fight dragged though the courtyard and soon someone was kicked through a side door to the main building. Inside with the columns and the large statue of Buddha, there were more obstacles in the way. He dodged the blades and fended off the attacks of their formation easily. In truth he was waiting for that blond girl to come back with the sword.

Speak of the devil. She rushed in and stepped forward as the other ninja stepped back.

"I'll let you see how powerful my sword is," she stated with her hand on the hilt. Then quick as a snake she drew and whipped it out. The lash of the sword extended beyond the actual physical sword itself. It was whip like and even though a target isn't directly hit by the sword, they will still be hit by the chakra that extends from it.

The lash of chakra flew toward the masked man and he held up his hands to block the hit before jumping out of the way. The column behind him split down the middle as he landed a few yards away. What had looked like a piece of rope in his hands was actually a long chain wrapped in cloth.

The chakra had snapped the chain in half and shredded the fabric off. The man smiled underneath his mask and said, "Thank you. I came here for this sword in fact. I wanted to break this non-breakable Cold Chain."

"Mist Sword Stance!" Mizuki ordered and once more the ninja fell into formation and began attacking again. The man was pushed back toward the back wall of the building by the Buddha. Ino sent out another lash which sent the man sliding back and hitting the back wall.

"Quick, come here!" Naruto popped his head out of a panel behind the Buddha, gesturing quickly for the man to get in. Without hesitation the man followed him. They rushed down the narrow passageway as quick as they could. The pursuit behind them could clearly be heard and they moved even faster.

Upon exiting the passageway the man grabbed Naruto's hand as the blond led the way up the hill and unknowingly to his favorite cliff. Mizuki and the other Mist nin were hot on their heels.

"You suck at fighting," the masked man growled out. Naruto didn't even have time to think of a suitable comeback or insult. He didn't want this person to be captured for helping him out.

"You go ahead and leave me!" Naruto tried to pull his hand free from the stranger's grip but had no luck.

"Idiot, if they catch you they're gonna kill you." There was no time for any response as they came to an abrupt halt. They had reached the edge of the cliff.

"You brought us to a dead end?" the other man gave him an exasperated look. The Mist nin had caught up and came to a stop several yards away from them. Mizuki spoke up.

"Naruto, you have betrayed Mist and allied yourself with Konoha, as the caretaker of the village I hereby exile you from our village! Mist ninja, at my command, kill with no mercy!" A chorus of agreements passed behind him.

"Sorry I brought you down with me," Naruto apologized to the man who had tried to save him. He had tried to return the favor but as was his luck, he wouldn't be able to save even himself.

"Don't worry about it. My name's Sasuke by the way," the masked man offered almost casually with a smirk. Ino glared at him and drew out the sword.

"How dare you act so nonchalant in such a critical moment. Where can you go now?" and with that she whipped the sword and the chakra snaked out and struck the ground. The ground collapsed and the edge where they were standing fell. Naruto yelled out as the ground gave way beneath him and instinctively he clung to the other man for dear life as they both plummeted.

Naruto was still screaming when Sasuke turned and tried to break their fall by trying to cling to the cliff walls with chakra. There seemed to be something strange though with the walls as he kept sliding and with the extra weight of Naruto they kept sliding faster until they hit a rock jutting out of the side of the wall and they tumbled down the rest of the way.

The blond hadn't stopped screaming until he landed in a heap on top of the raven haired man. The abrupt cutoff of his cry made it seem like he had quickly met his demise but Sasuke felt otherwise. He could still feel the boy breathing on top of him. Speaking of breathing, he shoved the boy off so that he could breathe.

As soon as the blond was shoved off he started screaming once more thinking that he was going to fall off another cliff of some sort.

"Shut it, idiot!" Sasuke clamped a bloody hand over the blonde's mouth. He was already regretting saving this dumbass. Naruto promptly started choking on the blood entering his open mouth and yanked his head away and starting gagging and coughing. The man took a glance at his hands and grimaced; they were quite torn up from his attempt at slowing their tumble.

He tore two strips from his shirt and started wrapping his hands. This would have to do for now until he could clean them. As he bound his hands Naruto had gotten enough air back into his lungs that he was starting to look around . But that was stopped the moment he laid eyes on the man that had saved him again.

Naruto gawked. There was no other way to describe his staring. Somewhere along their tumble the man had lost his mask. Kneeling before him was the most beautiful boy/man that he'd ever lay eyes on. His skin was a white contrast to his own tan and as light as his hair was the boy/man's hair was black. Even his eyes were black.

He snickered; he could almost pass for a girl! Not that he knew too many girls but this Sasuke sure looked like he could be one. He didn't look any older than sixteen either.

"What are you sniggering about?" But the venom that this feminine boy spewed from his mouth was anything but sweet. Naruto didn't really want to test his luck anymore today. He had escaped death twice today already, he didn't think he could push his luck a third time.

"Ah, nothing. Just that you look like a girl," he blurted out anyway. He mentally berated himself. Guess he really did want to end up dead. Sasuke glared at him and swatted his head.

"Idiot. I don't know why I saved you."

"Ouch, that hurt bastard! You may look like a girl but you're not gentle at all!" he didn't know when to shut his mouth. The raven haired boy's glare dropped several more degrees, if that was even possible. Sasuke stood up and his expression turned slightly creepy when he smiled down at the blond.

"What's your name?" Naruto raised his brows at this. He didn't like the look that the other boy was giving him; kind of like he was dreaming about torturing said blond. He gulped and had to ask, "What's it to you?"

"So I can put it on your tombstone when I'm done with you. It'd be the only way anyone would recognize you," he replied pleasantly.

"Ah, haha, well, in that case…my name is Uzumaki Naruto," his voice got quieter as he spoke. If he was going to die, he might as well leave his name behind somehow. At this admission though the raven haired boy frowned.

"Uzumaki Naruto? Who's your father?" The blond frowned in confusion; why would this guy want to know who his father was?

"Namikaze Minato. My mom was Uzumaki Kushina," Naruto supplied quietly, wondering how this boy knew his parents.

"Namikaze eh?" he scowled and seemed to debate with himself internally before he knelt back down and bowed down low. Naruto sat up; his aura practically oozed confusion.

"Uzumaki-sama, please forgive my rudeness. I am your servant, Uchiha Sasuke. I serve Konoha's Kage, Sarutobi. I had offended him which is why he had me chained up like this. I ran away to look for the Yee Tin sword to break this chain. Luckily I ran into you and you saved me," the boy spoke formally like a practiced speech.

"I'm not your master," Naruto protested, "I didn't save you! You saved me!"

"It's my job to protect you. I am your servant to order as you wish, Uzumaki-sama." Naruto shook his head. Never had anyone bowed to him and treated his name with such respect. He didn't know what to do.

"Please, just call me Naruto. I'm only sixteen. Uzumaki-sama makes me feel as old as that pervy old man Jiraiya. And second, stand up, don't kneel. You could totally kick my ass and it feels weird that you're bowing to me." He reached forward and lifted the boy up by his arm. He also didn't like the change of annoyed to coldly formal.

Sasuke didn't resist but he sat up and studied the blond before him carefully. There seemed to be no lie in his words; the boy looked sincere. Sasuke hadn't met very many nobles that wouldn't take advantage of having someone like him as their servant.

"Good, now, can I call you Sasuke?" he asked with his hand still holding onto the other boy's arm. Sasuke nodded, "You can call me whatever you want."

"Good, good. Okay…wow. Okay, what the heck are we gonna do? I haven't even seen my grandfather since I was born. Heck, I don't even know how he looks like!" Naruto started rambling, a habit that a lot of people had when they were nervous or anxious. Sasuke watched him ramble on for two seconds before he spoke.

"Naruto." The blond turned back to the raven haired boy at the call of his name.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Sasuke watched, highly amused as it took less than a second for the insult to register and the remaining second for the blond to open his mouth and shoot off whatever his brain spat out. It was like a reflex to insult whoever had insulted him first. His blue eyes glared and as he was about to talk there was a loud rumble.

They both looked around quickly, hoping to hell that the cavern they had fallen into wasn't going to collapse. The noise continued and what little light they had coming from another part of the cavern was suddenly blocked by something large.

**A/N** Hey again, hope this chapter wasn't too confusing! If you need something explained, let me know! I'm writing this assuming that people already know how all the Naruto people look like. The only things that I'm going to describe are places (just think ancient China, like in Mulan). I've taken the liberty of splitting people up and changing their alliances to better fit the story line, so Ino may be Leaf in cannon but she's Lightening here and Minato is Mist and so on. More characters will come into play as the story moves along. I'm trying to stick to a narrator's point of view as much as possible. There might be moments where I'll insert a character's thoughts here and there but for the most part it's suppose to be like someone telling the story (kind of…not too sure how to accurately explain this) well, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Great Solar Scroll

Legendary

Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto at all, although I do play with him as I please (so does Sasuke, but then again Sasuke owns him so it's his right, but not mine, but it is because this is fan fiction and I can do as I please but I don't own him) Got it everyone? Good, on with the story then XD

!!

Sinister laughter filled the darkened cavern. The walls continued to tremble as whatever was coming kept approaching. The two stood their ground as they tensed even more.

When it came they were surprised to find a large round boulder. What was even more surprising was that attached to the boulder was an old scraggly man. He had fraying red hair and squinty gold eyes.

Strapped securely to the stone ball by rough twine, the old man eyed the two youths hungrily. Naruto took an unconscious, chivalrous step forward to shield Sasuke, forgetting who it was that could actually defend himself.

It cackled as Naruto moved before crying out gleefully, "I didn't think I would be having visitors. Are you Mist ninja?" Without any thought Naruto stuck his chin out and with his proud posture he loudly declared his answer, "Yes, I am Uzumaki Naruto, student of Mist Village."

The old man leered at him, "I haven't had human flesh for so long! I'm going to savor you! Jiraiya made a fool of me, it's not too much to ask that I eat one of his student, is it?" Naruto's face screwed up in distaste at the thought of being eaten by the weird old man before his face lit up in recognition.

"Are you that cook from Rock?" The old man looked at Naruto quizzically.

"You know who I am?" He looked like he would have asked more but he was distracted by Sasuke.

Sasuke's irritation had grown while the other two spoke; he narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Naruto for blocking him. He stepped out and around Naruto to stand by his side and to get a better look at the talking stone ball.

At the sight of Sasuke the old man cackled joyfully once more as he spoke with relish, "Oh, a pretty girl! Her delicate flesh will be even more delicious than yours," he directed to Naruto. Sasuke glared at the old man for being called a girl twice in day while Naruto on the other hand couldn't help but silently agree with a slight nod.

Deeply irritated the Uchiha smacked Naruto in the side of the head growling out, "I am not a girl." Having been brought back to the situation at hand, Naruto spoke up, "Yeah, he's not a girl. And he's not from Mist. Eat me instead!" He once again stepped forward and closer to the old man in the boulder, throwing his arms wide to shield Sasuke.

The thought of getting eaten didn't sound pleasant, but he owed Sasuke for saving his life. He didn't even have to wait as for as soon as he spoke the old man laughed again.

"You're heroic too, eh?" and without any more words the giant boulder started to roll away. Confusion sprung onto the blonde's face and he reached an arm out as if to stop the boulder, "Wait!" Immediately his legs gave out and once again the cold permeated his body as it did every night since that attack eight years ago.

Master Jiraiya wasn't there to pass chakra to him and his body shivered uncontrollably. Sasuke hadn't been able to break his fall but knelt down beside him. Worry laced his usually calm features as he gripped the blonde's shoulders and called out his name, "Naruto?"

"I'm so c-cold," Naruto gritted out between chattering teeth. Sasuke tilted his head up to glare at the old man who had stopped rolling away to see what was going on.

"What did you do to him?" he demanded. The old man snorted, "Are you kidding? He's already been seriously injured." He switched his amused gaze from Sasuke to Naruto, "Who hurt you?"

Still trembling but fighting to get up, Naruto was helped into a sitting position by Sasuke before he answered, "I was hit by Jinx's Palm eight years ago." The old man laughed hysterically.

"Nothing can cure it. Jiraiya must have been passing his chakra to you over the years. He must love you a lot," he spoke snidely. Sasuke had enough. It seemed like this kind of attitude toward Naruto was rather common if those ninja from before were any indication.

"I know you can cure him. So cure him," he almost snapped at the man. A random thought told him that acting that way probably wouldn't get the crazy man to do so. He ignored it; he would never resort to begging.

"My great Solar Stance is the only solution," he answered anyway, "But why should I cure one of Jiraiya's people?" A thoughtful look entered his eyes and they gleamed devilishly.

"Naruto, if you insult your master Jiraiya as a shameless asshole," he paused for dramatic effect, "Then I will teach you my great Solar Stance to cue you from Jinx's Palm." The old man smiled like a cat with stolen cream. He looked damn proud of his idea. (1)

The blond looked aghast at such a choice and it showed on his face. There was no choice there as he shouted, "Impossible!" As soon as the word left his mouth, a piece of twine shot out from the boulder and slammed Naruto across the face flipping him back a few feet.

Sasuke scooted over to Naruto and knelt by him again. He wasn't expecting the old man to do that. He should have guessed that being strapped to the boulder meant the old man could control the twine. He'd be more prepared next time as he glared at the old man, "You don't have to save him, but why the fuck did you hit him?"

It was obvious the raven haired man didn't know much about the animosity between the cook and Jiraiya. The old man ignored him and continued his taunting, "Just say that Jiraiya is a shameless asshole three times and I will teach you then you will be free of your suffering forever. You will be invincible! It's so easy.

"I'll help you out, just follow me," he spoke slowly as if to a dumb child but his voice grew louder and angrier as he started, "Jiraiya is a shameless asshole!" Naruto looked at the ground fiercely as he stood up slowly, almost like it was painful. As he stood completely straight he muttered, "The shameless asshole," he looked at the old man with fire in his eyes, "Is you!" The old cook drew his head back in slight shock at the vehemence of the boy's loyalty.

"Fine. Let's see how you get through tonight," he snapped pettily before he rolled away. Once the stone ball was out of sight, Naruto collapsed once more but Sasuke caught him this time. The false bravado earlier faded as he started shaking again.

"Naruto," Sasuke called his name softly in concern. He held Naruto's shoulder but continued to look at him helplessly. He didn't know what to do to help his master. The blond shivered and moaned, "It's cold." Sasuke glanced around at that and saw around them old dried grass and various dead shrubs that must have blown down into the cavern over the years.

He quickly grabbed handfuls of them and started piling them on top of the blond. Covered in a small blanket of dried vegetation Sasuke asked him, "Feeling any warmer?" Naruto didn't reply as he merely kept shaking.

Sasuke looked around again a little desperately. There were more dried stuff in other parts of the cavern but he didn't want to leave Naruto's side. And he didn't think it would make much of a difference. A few more glances and he came to his only option.

Body heat.

He hesitated a moment, thinking that he might have to pass some of his chakra to Naruto as well. He had never done that before but it couldn't be too hard. His mind set, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the blond in a hug. It seemed he wouldn't have to do that.

He didn't speak as Naruto's shivers lessened and he rolled them over to find a more comfortable position on the cavern floor. From around a corner the old man watched and spoke out loud to himself, "I can't imagine that Jiraiya would have such a brave ninja like you, boy."

!!

Morning light flitted into the cavern and Sasuke woke from the bright rays. He took in his surroundings sleepily as his mind wanted to snuggle tighter against his comfy pillow.

Immediately his eyes widened when he remembered what had happened last night. He found himself lying on top of Naruto with his head tucked in the crook of the blonde's neck; he was breathing in and out the smell of Naruto.

As soon as his alarm came it vanished as he took on a more curious look at his new master. He couldn't deny that his new master was quite handsome with his blond hair and bright blue eyes. There was a lean look to his baby face that made him think that the blond would age very well.

He leaned a little closer to Naruto's face and going with impulse, gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Naruto stirred and he panicked before resuming his sleeping position as if he hadn't woken up yet.

Naruto woke up clueless and he moved his body, slightly confused at the weight on top of him. When he moved, Sasuke pretended to stir and wake up as well. Their eyes met and Sasuke smiled at the blonde's blank look.

"Good morning," he whispered. Naruto returned the smile automatically. He was rather content to lay there with Sasuke on top of him. It was a nice feeling.

"Did you have a weapon with you after all?" Sasuke asked with a slight frown on his face. Naruto opened his eyes and shook his head, "No, why?"

"Something hard poked me during the night," he answered with a straight face. The blond whipped forward into a sitting position as his face flamed. Sasuke had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Oh my god! I can't believe-is he gonna-" his panicked whispers were cut short as Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder and asked if something was wrong. Immediately he broke into a huge nervous grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh, haha, nothing, I just remembered something," he said quickly, hopefully the other would drop the issue. Lucky for him Sasuke felt the old man approaching this time and he changed the subject.

"Naruto, you're still alive so I think you'll be alright." The old man rounded the corner and spat out in contrary to Sasuke's comment, "Stop dreaming."

"You were lucky last night," he continued to dampen their feelings, "If no one passes chakra to you, you will continue to feel cold two to three times a day, not just at night. You will never regain the use of your own chakra.

"You will die."

"You cold hearted jerk!" Sasuke stood up and yelled at the old man. Once again he ignored the Uchiha.

"Naruto, if you don't learn my Solar Stance you will suffer coldness for the rest of your short life. Leave Jiraiya and be my student," he offered. The blonde's answer was quick just like yesterday.

"Master Jiraiya is so nice to me; I can't repay him like that." Sasuke found himself nodding to that; slightly proud that despite his sickness he could still be so upstanding and loyal. Anyone else he knew wouldn't have thought twice about their choices.

"You're a fool!" the old cook yelled at him. Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms over his chest as an idea came to him.

"Why you do push so hard for him to learn your technique?" he asked snidely. The old man's eyes glazed over a bit as he remembered events from long ago.

"I was defeated by Jiraiya years ago. I am still furious. I want my student to be superior to any of his!" he confessed unwittingly. Sasuke smiled as he took advantage of the situation.

"Why not teach me?" he asked. The old man sneered, "You are not Jiraiya's student." He glared and stared down his nose at the old man before turning to Naruto and whispering quickly so the old cook couldn't hear him.

"His backbone is broken; he moves with that boulder. Why not take his offer and after learning his technique, take back your words?" he suggested. Naruto frowned and stepped away from Sasuke with a determined look on his face.

The next words out of his mouth almost made Sasuke think that his idea had been totally shot down.

"Mist ninjas are always righteous and virtuous! I am a Mist ninja. If he wants me to learn his techniques so bad, there must be a trick behind it; I won't learn it," he said angrily but added in a disbelieving voice, "I don't think you can make me learn it anyway."

The cook's eye brows rose at the challenge and amusement shone on his face at the boy's words.

"I can't huh?" were his words before two strands of twine shot out toward Naruto. Sasuke reacted and tried to counter the twine with his chains. The twine however wrapped themselves around the cold chains and yanked at them. He was dragged through the air and whipped off to the side.

Sasuke couldn't stop himself as the cavern wall came into view but another whip of the twine and he was slammed into the ground instead. He rolled over onto his stomach and grimaced; hitting the ground was better than hitting the rocky wall, but it still hurt like hell.

"Sasuke!" Naruto attempted to run to his side but was stopped by strands of twine. He managed to dodge one and jumped over another but was quickly caught by both wrists.

"Let me help you!" the old man jeered at him. Naruto struggled furiously, wanting to get to Sasuke to see if he was alright.

"I won't let you do that!" he yelled back to the crazy man. More twine shot out from the ball and wrapped around his feet. Before Naruto could even think about what was going to happen, his feet were yanked out from underneath him but his hands were pulled forward at the same time.

Pain shot down his stomach as he landed on his chest and his legs were pulled into the air. If it weren't so damn painful, and if it were happening to someone else, he would have laughed at the shape his body was currently making. As it was, he resembled a human letter L.

He heard shouting and groaning but it didn't pierce his pain-fogged mind that he was the one making all the noise. More twine shot out, wrapping around his knees and they too starting pulling.

"The Great Sun appears, Red Blood flows backward," the old man chanted as Naruto screamed. His butt was mere inches away from his head as the old man pulled and his legs completely came over his head to touch the ground before him.

"Air from the belly goes through the whole body." Naruto's screams merely got louder before he managed to take a breath and shout, "My back's breaking!!"

The twine holding his hand loosened and he was allowed to uncurl before being flipped over into a standing position. He didn't have time to feel his back's relief as a particularly thick piece of twine shot forward and starting hitting crucial points on his chest.

"Blood Sea!" A cry followed before the twine hit again. "Top of back!" With each hit there was a meaning behind it followed by Naruto's cry.

"Solar Pool." "Door of Life." The last two phrases passed and Naruto was released from the twine. He fell to his knees clutching his stomach as he puked up blood and vomit. The old man laughed and in a serious tone spoke, "Naruto, you have the first grade of the Great Solar Scroll. You have my technique now. You can never get rid of it!" He laughed once more as Naruto managed to lift his head up to glare at him.

Sasuke had stood up sometime during the ordeal was staring at the two of them from the side. There wasn't much he could do at the moment. Naruto was learning the technique whether he wanted to or not; in the end it would only benefit him. He would let the old man continue for now.

"There's nine grades total. I'll push you to learn the second grade. Unless you die, you're betraying Mist Village!" and he laughed again. He was ecstatic that his plan was working. The boy's chakra coils, despite the fact that he couldn't use them were perfectly capable of handling such a tremendous strain. It's probably due to the fact that he hadn't been able to use them that they were barely developed.

He would survive this harsh method, no doubt about it. And with his easy adaptability, he would take little time to complete the ninth grade. The cook smirked, this was just too easy. Take that, Jiraiya. I'm going to steal your student and make him mine!

**A/N** How's that? Hehe, I know the relationships moving a bit fast for some people but in times of great adventure, things happen fast. And haven't you heard of attraction/love at first sight? Sasuke's rather possessive so he's already staking his claim; Naruto is too, just not so calculating. Sorry if the descriptions don't make sense. It'd be so much easier if this was in manga form (but alas I can't do manga cuz my patience just won't last beyond the first few boxes). I hope this peaks your curiosity. Thanks for reading!

1-Dignity and honor was and still is a big deal in China and many other Asian cultures (not just Asian cultures). To insult your own master is a big No-No. So it might not seem like a big deal but it is, especially to Naruto. Any other issues that don't make sense, just let me know I'll try my best to explain. A lot of little humorus things or other issues get lost in translation so that kinda sucks.


	4. First signs of Conspiracy

Legendary

Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto, or Sasuke, but they own each other. Touch them and you will be hurt. Badly. I tried and look at me. Just kidding, they're real friendly. Well, just Naruto. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"Father!" Mizuki begged a second before his father backhanded him. He fell back to the others kneeling behind him. They all bowed a little lower, heads bowed down in shame. Mizuki's father had stood up from his chair and was bent over slightly in anger. Behind him stood the other elders of Mist with frowns on their faces.

"I gave you simple orders. I trusted you to take care of Naruto!" he yelled at his son. His chest heaved with anger as he took a step forward to hit his son again.

"He tried his best!" Ino stepped forward and kneeled before the elders in an attempt to pacify the irate man.

"Please father! He was too strong, we tried to fight him off but in the end he took Naruto down with him! I'm sorry father!" Mizuki groveled and crawled back to his father's feet pathetically, "Please kill me as compensation for my failure!"

"Alright! I'll kill you now!" his father raised his hand for a blow; he was furious.

"That's enough. Even if you kill him, you can't bring Naruto back. It's useless to kill him," Jiraiya cut in, preventing the man from further harming his only son. "Minato had many enemies. Naruto is an unfortunate boy. He may be dead but maybe for him it will be better that way," Jiraiya sighed.

He took a moment and then steeled himself to change the issue. He would grieve later. There was another issue at hand that was important. They were on the verge of a war.

"Rock invited us to launch a raid on Konoha. Doing this would maintain some semblance of peace and honor in this world of shinobi. I accepted their offer as well as the other villages. Yuen Kiu, lead the others. Mizuki and Ino will go with you," Jiraiya ordered and the others bowed, shouting their assent in unison before they stood up and went to prepare.

* * *

In the middle of the cavern Naruto was held suspended in the air by multiple strands of twine. Red chakra was visible; the energy moved from the old cook to surround Naruto briefly before it merged into him.

The amount of chakra being forced into the blond was huge; Sasuke was standing off to the side of the cavern and he was having a hard time just standing up against the force that those two were emitting.

The 'training' had been non-stop. Naruto hadn't been given any chance to rest or prepare in between steps. Sasuke had rested briefly here and there in the beginning but eventually he had started sleeping as much as he could.

It had only been today that he had stood up when the old cook had spoken something that caught his attention.

"The ninth grade, "Great Sun in the Sky!" he shouted and the last burst of chakra flooded area like an explosion from the cook. For a second there was no noise as the chakra seemed suspended in the air of the cavern much like Naruto.

Then like a reversed explosion, the chakra was sucked into Naruto as quickly as it had come from the old man. Before Sasuke could even blink once all the chakra was gone, there was another eruption of chakra. This was in the form of a wave which knocked the cook back and snapped the twine holding Naruto in place.

Sasuke was plastered against the wall, unable to get away from the punishing chakra. Naruto, free from the twine fell down to the ground with a grace that had never been there before. He stared at the old cook impassively as the old man laughed.

"Naruto, you have all the techniques of the Great Solar Scroll. From now on you are full of mysterious and powerful chakra. Your sickness is gone and it'll be hard to hurt you or kill you!" the old man boasted, quite proud of his accomplishment.

Naruto remained impassive. Sasuke, no longer pressed up against the wall approached the blond and spoke his relief, "You made it, idiot." At the beginning with all the chakra being forced into him, he knew a normal person wouldn't have been able to withstand that; he had a moment of doubt that the blond would survive it. But there he stood, with the stance and attitude of a seasoned shinobi.

Naruto lowered himself onto one knee, left palm resting on the bent knee. With a smile on his face, he spoke sincerely, "Thank you, master."

The old man stopped laughing and a look of disbelief flooded his face, "Weren't you unwilling to learn my technique? It should be a suffering, not something to smile about!"

"I know you didn't mean to teach me," he responded seriously, "You just wanted to shame my Master Jiraiya. So I tricked you to teach me your techniques." Naruto looked away and a look of hate filled his face as he thought about the ones who pushed his parents to their death.

"I have to avenge my parents. I really did want to learn," he looked at the old cook with determination on his face. It resonated with his entire being. Sasuke smirked; glad that his idiot wasn't quite an idiot after all.

"You! You're cunning," the old cook began to shout. His face was still one of shock and disbelief. Naruto continued to speak, "Not only are beautiful women un-trustworthy, you can't even trust those that seem to be kind-hearted."

Angry at being deceived so easily by a mere boy and having a lecture on who to trust, the old man shouted, "I'm going to kill you!" The stone ball rolled forward menacingly. Naruto stood up and boasted, "I have the same techniques as you. How can you kill me?"

Confidence shone in his eyes. Sasuke regarded him from the corner of his eyes; he wondered briefly if the boy always had this in him, but merely lacked the strength to back it up. Now that he did though, those who wronged him were in for a world of hurt. Sasuke smirked at the old man stuck to the stone ball.

With a roar of rage the stone surged forward, intent on flattening the duo. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and jumped out of the way. Hay and other debris flew around from the gathering of red chakra. The old was mad.

"Watch out, he's still strong," Sasuke cautioned just in case the idiot was getting too confident. Just then red chakra from the old man formed ghostly hands in front of him. They formed seals quickly and with a grunt rays that could only be described as solar rays shot toward them.

They both shoved away from each other to avoid the deadly blast. The wall that stood behind them shattered as Sasuke went one way and Naruto the other. The old cook followed Naruto and tried to smash him again. Naruto performed a series of back flips out of the way and finally jumped over the rolling stone.

The old man stopped, heaving in anger and instead of just rolling this time, the red chakra levitated the large stone and he flew toward the blond boy. Naruto took a step back and prepared himself. As the stone shot closer to him, he gathered the red chakra at his feet.

Timing it just right, he jumped up and with a chakra infused kick, he sent the stone ball and the old man flying straight through the roof of the cavern. Rocks crumbled and fell where the ceiling had been broken. Naruto and Sasuke glanced up, trying to see where it had gone only to have the light blocked out suddenly.

They backed out of the way as the stone came crashing back down to the cavern, knocking the ceiling down some more. When the dust clouds cleared and rocks stopped tumbling down, they peered at the stone ball only to see that the impact of the fall had wedged it into the ground.

The old man struggled furiously, trying to dislodge the stone from the ground. Red chakra whipped about feebly but soon faded. Teaching Naruto the Solar Scroll had taken a lot out of him apparently. Naruto approached the cook slowly and apologized, "Please forgive me, sir. You cured me and helped me tremendously. Thank you for your lessons."

"You smart ass!" was all the reply he got for the apology and gratitude. His face was red and blotchy, his breathing heavy and labored from his struggles and his fury.

"When I avenge my parents, I will come back to save you," Naruto offered as a slight truce. The old man ignored him and cursed him instead, "You will die terribly!"

Sasuke couldn't hold his tongue at that insult and spat out, "We'll see who's going to die terribly. Let's go Naruto." He grabbed the blonde's hand and together they jumped out of the cavern through the hole in the ceiling.

"See how long you two will be together! You will not have a happy ending!" He screamed after them, his face screwed up in anguish as the presence of the other two disappeared.

Outside of the cave at last, Naruto and Sasuke traveled for a few miles before he fell down onto his knees, panting hard. Sasuke stared at him, slightly concerned when the blond lowered his head and started shaking.

All around them were trees and a lake was off to their right. The mist wasn't very thick as it was a little after noon. Sasuke estimated that they weren't very far from the border of Fire Country. He was just about to ask Naruto what was wrong when the blond raised his head and looked up.

"I've made it," he said quietly Sasuke almost didn't hear him, "Rock, Grass, Cloud, Sand; all of you are stained with the blood of my father." His voice grew louder. The memory of his father killing himself resurfaced like it always did; he remembered his blood spraying from his chest and onto _them_.

"I want you to repay it!" he shouted out to the heavens. His head fell back down, relieved partly from finally being able to let out some of his anger and frustration and partly from now being able to actually take his revenge like his mother wanted.

"You're look is horrible," Sasuke commented as he squatted down to be at eye level with the blond. He was concerned, that sunshine face wasn't meant to hold such a look. If anything, Sasuke wanted the blond to say something stupid so that he could tease him and get rid of that look on his face.

"If you were me, having your parents die in front of you and having to keep your hatred inside your heart for eight years, to be insulted and bullied all the time…when you have the chance to let it out, you'll be like me," he whispered painfully, his eyes scrunched up as his heart beat painfully.

Sasuke did understand, but he didn't need to burden Naruto with his own life story. So he changed the subject, "Are you going back to Mist?"

"Mizuki is the only son of my uncle, I can't kill him," he mumbled. Sasuke merely shrugged and looked away, not really sure where they were suppose to go then. Naruto looked up again.

"I'm not going back to Mist," he said with strength behind his words. He stood up and took a few steps forward. He looked around and spoke to Sasuke without looking at him, "With the help of the Great Solar Scroll, I can go anywhere I want. I'll go to Konoha to see my grandfather! And I'll ask him to unlock those chains from you."

Sasuke followed and smiled a genuine little smile when he heard those words. He hadn't really expected the blond to do that for him.

"Thank you," he said softly. Naruto looked at Sasuke as he approached. His heart pained him as he watched the dark haired boy. In the relatively short time that he had known him, he had grown fond of the protectiveness that Sasuke had toward him despite the sarcastic remarks about his intelligence.

"When my grandfather releases you, you are free to go wherever you want. I'm setting you free," Naruto forced out of his mouth. He didn't want the other boy to go but if it meant doing the right thing, he'd do it.

Sasuke couldn't hide the surprise from his normally stoic face. No one had ever offered to release him; they hadn't wanted to lose such a precious asset. But here was this idiot who didn't even know how to protect himself a week ago, telling him that he would be set free.

He didn't want to go wherever. He found himself wanting to stay with such an honest, kind person. He had grown to like the silly boy as well. And whatever Sasuke wanted, he got (except for his freedom of course).

"I like serving you," he said quietly, a part of his mind appalled at having just admitted this out loud, but he forged on, "You're so nice to me…and I like that. Will you let me serve you forever?" he finished on a hesitant note, fearful that the blond would laugh at him.

When the blond just stared at him, he quickly added in embarrassment thinking the worst, "Now that you're all powerful, I think that you're going to get a lot of attention. You'll probably forget me. Forget that I asked."

Naruto was shocked to say the least that Sasuke didn't want to leave him. He was also happy. But as the other boy started to turn away red faced he quickly sprung into action. He grabbed Sasuke's shoulders to keep him from turning.

"No! As long as there is a sun, I won't ever forget you or let you leave me!" And with that they set off toward Konoha to see his grandfather.

* * *

The afternoon rush in the marketplace was normal as the people talked and bartered their way around items and other wares. Old folks and young ones intermingled and chatted happily. This village was a prosperous one, its citizens having not known the taste of war. But then again, such a large trade-based village like this one and so close to the protection of Konoha, there was no doubt that it would never see the true horrors of war.

It was here in this civilian village that Naruto and Sasuke had wandered into. It had been over a week now since they had gotten away from that rolling stone ball of a cook. Their travel so far had not been too bad aside from the teasing and insults, mostly from Sasuke's side now that he was more comfortable with Naruto.

Not to mention Naruto complained. A lot. Now that he was fine with Sasuke as well, he acted like he always did with Jiraiya, loud and goofy and just being himself without having to worry about being really insulted or looked down upon. Even if Sasuke did insult him, he didn't mind too much. The way he was thinking, the other boy probably didn't mean it.

Or he did, but anyway, he actually liked their bantering. But today since they had come to this village, all he could do was stare and ogle the items on sale and the people they passed. He had never seen a village this big and in truth it could have been called a city.

Sasuke hadn't said so much as a word to him since they arrived, but then maybe it was because he was too busy staring at things for the other boy to get his attention. Speaking of which, Naruto watched a couple, a man and a woman strolling by, holding hands and smiling at each other. He suddenly had the urge to do the same with Sasuke.

Quickly before he could back down he reached beside him blindly and grabbed Sasuke's hand. With a grin on his face he started to tug and walk at the same time.

"Naruto," was Sasuke's dry inquiry as to why he was holding some guy's hand. With a quick glance he saw that some guy had walked between them and he had grabbed the stranger's hand in his haste! Sasuke smirked and Naruto's face bloomed into a deep red, much like the red of the lower half of Sasuke's symbol on his tunic.

Horrified by his mistake and totally embarrassed he wrenched his hand free and dashed off to hide behind the nearest stand's cover. Still smirking Sasuke followed. Trying to play it off Naruto pretended to be examining the items when Sasuke spoke up.

"There are crab candies for sale." Glad that he wasn't going to rub it in, Naruto eagerly lead the way and they bought several sticks of candy, mostly for Naruto.

They spotted a restaurant and inside they went. After ordering a few dishes, Naruto looked at the last stick of candy in his hand.

"This was the last thing my mom bought for me. After I was hit with the Jinx's Palm technique, she gave me some to eat when it hurt," he gave a soft but sad chuckle, "Needless to say, I ate the whole stick. Every time I see them though, it reminds me of her."

Sasuke looked on in silence, knowing that the blond wouldn't want him to say anything. Their moment of sharing was abruptly ended though as several men came in loudly demanding food and wine to a passing waiter.

Even before sitting down completely they began speaking.

"The five villages are launching a raid on Konoha. I'm sure they'll destroy those demons."

"If we're late, we'll miss the great moment," another one spoke up enthusiastically. The others agreed as they nodded their heads. Their moment was ruined as well when another voice rose up.

"So what if you catch them?" They stood up in anger and looked at the origin of the voice. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't see the person as they were sitting in another part of the restaurant where a wall and several cloth hangings blocked the person from their view.

"It just means more people will be sent to hell only. There are four jounin leaders and then there's the invincible ANBU (1). Do you think small potatoes (2) like you can destroy them?" the stranger asked with a high air of superiority.

"How stupid are you?" the stranger added. The men were enraged at being insulted. One man spoke up angrily, "She must be somebody from Konoha, capture her!" (3) The men drew their swords but before they could even take a step, a squad of archers moved in from another part of the restaurant took aim and fired their long bows.

The men didn't even stand a chance; they were dead before their bodies hit the floor.

"Let's go," Sasuke urged and the two stood up. The raven haired boy didn't like the situation and he didn't want to get caught up in it.

Their departure was halted by the archers moving back and lifting the cloth hangings out of the way. From the other part of the restaurant emerged a figure clad in all white with a small crown on her head. The style of clothing was that more suited for a man, even the way her hair was styled. Two long strands tied in the center were pulled forward and the rest let loose in a curtain of long black hair.

She walked forward with an air of royalty, her chin held up at just the right degree. From her waist she drew a fan and snapped it open with the grace of someone who had been doing it all her life. She looked down at the dead bodies and said with a disdainful smile, "You're trying to put a quart inside a pint."

"Hey, is she someone from Konoha?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke. The woman hadn't noticed them yet, or if she did, she paid them no heed. Like them, there were others in the restaurant that had stood up in terror at the debacle.

"I've never seen her before," Sasuke denied. They continued to listen as a man in a white mask moved forward to speak to the woman.

"Let's get this deal with the raid in Konoha over with. I'll try my best." The woman for all intents and purposes looked away and up at the ceiling, annoyed at the ass-kissing.

The door opened and Naruto tensed in anger as he recognized the two men who entered. Their black cloaks with imprinted clouds were unmistakable. The blond man with the stitches and the silent weird one with the head covering.

Unconsciously he took a step forward but Sasuke grabbed his shirt and held him back.

"Do you know them?" he asked.

"Of course," Naruto snarled quietly under his breath, "They're the ones that hit me with Jinx's Palm eight years ago." He got angrier with each word that came out of his mouth. It was because of those two that he had to live the hellish life that he did.

"Don't freak out," Sasuke warned, his quiet voice penetrating Naruto's haze of anger momentarily, "There are powerful shinobi here, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"Hidan," the woman acknowledged. He responded with a nod and a "How are you?" Not waiting for a reply, not that she would have given him one anyway, he turned to the masked man and said, "We all depend on you."

The masked man nodded and turned to the woman once more, "Please send my regards to His Majesty. Farewell." She rolled her eyes but dipped her head slightly anyway. The man bowed and then left the restaurant.

Naruto glared and his chakra spiked slightly. Sasuke tensed, waiting for a confrontation seeing as being with Naruto there was no telling what he was going to do.

"Who's that?" the blond man turned to glare at the two boys who were standing at a table by the window. Naruto tried his damndest to retain an impassive look on his face due to the fact that Sasuke was half hiding behind him with a tight grip on the back of his tunic.

"What do you want kid?" the man growled threateningly. Naruto only tightened his fist; he couldn't stop the chakra from leaking. He was pissed.

The atmosphere of the room cooled as everybody was on edge. The blond Akatsuki member stalked forward, eyeing the other blond menacingly until his face was a mere half a foot away.

"Kid, what the hell are you looking at?" Naruto finally succeeded in adopting an impassive exterior as he looked away defiantly. The other member whispered into the woman's ear, "He seems familiar to us." The woman seemed to take his word into consideration. Unlike the other two, she had looked past the blonde to the paler boy behind him.

Much to her enjoyment, he was quite handsome. Her mind worked and she fanned herself casually. With a smile on her face she teased, "Forget it, it's just a couple enjoying a nice talk." She smiled in a way that looked like she knew more than she let on and started turning away.

"Let's go." Reluctantly the blond man with stitches backed away and the group left the building. When they were out of sight, Naruto growled out, "I just wanted…"

"It's a good thing you didn't. Look," Sasuke pointed out the window they were at. True indeed, the once bustling marketplace was silent as they parted way for the columns of troops. In the front was the woman on horseback as she led them. She looked back and caught the eyes of the boys. With a haughty smirk she looked away and the legion marched after her.

"That guy must be somebody," Naruto said in slight awe, "Those two seem to be his followers." While Naruto spoke, Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's naivety. It was times like these that his rather sheltered life shown through.

"Man? That was a woman," he grumbled. He hadn't like the way that he had caught her looking at him. It was a look that he was rather accustomed to, but he hated it. Naruto continued in his ignorance, "Woman?" he pondered, "She's like my mom," he said, like it explained everything. And to him, it did.

Sasuke however, was less than pleased that he had made that comparison. To him, Naruto treasured his mom, and to say that this woman was similar made him mad.

"She's pretty, so you say she's like your mom," he sneered, unable to keep the gruffness out of his voice. What was this blond doing to him? He'd never had trouble before keeping his emotions from his face, much less his voice. He wasn't even supposed to have emotions. Yet here he was, feeling the worst of them all, jealousy.

"Haha," Naruto let out a laugh, "You're like my mom now!" If it was even possible, Sasuke looked more irritated.

"Enough joking. Konoha is surrounded by the five villages. Let's hurry there," he snapped and Naruto wisely nodded and took after his lead.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, not dead yet, just injured, I'll live. And no, it wasn't Sasuke, but a work accident. My fingers are still healing. So what do you guys think? Can you guess who's playing the part of the woman? If not, then you'll find out in the next chapter. I think. And as for why Naruto thinks that the woman is similar to his mom, well, if she went and died in front of you and the last thing she said was be careful of beautiful, lying woman cuz she's one too…well, there you go. This is important cuz it's what-yeah, haha, just about to give away the story, lol.

There were suppose to be other notes here too, but I typed this at two different times and for the life of me I couldn't remember what the other ones were so if there's something that you need explained, let me know as I can't find them anymore! Thanks for reading! XD

(1) The original name was Five Elements Flag but I figured ANBU is a good equivalent to this branch of the group's military power.

(2) "Small potatoes" is an insult, the equivalent of "small fry" in the English language

(3) In Chinese, there's no "he" or "she" like there is in English (I think, don't quote me) so when you say "he's got it!" you actually don't know if it's a guy or a girl unless there's other context or you know who they're talking about. So that's why Naruto didn't know it was a woman, not to mention some guys are feminine enough to pass for female but that's not the point here.


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